OGDEN — Seniors Riley Jamison and Mary Hansen came up big at the right moment for the Woodward-Granger girls Tuesday to help deliver a 42-40 victory over Ogden in West Central Conference action. The victory came 24 hours after a hard-fought loss, by a 61-53 margin, to host Winterset Monday.
Jamison sank two 3-pointers en route to scoring all 10 of W-G’s points in the first quarter, which ended with Ogden holding a 16-10 lead. Her free throws late in the game tied the contest at 38-all, with two Hansen free throws with 2.3 seconds left delivering the victory.
“We started off very sluggish and looked slow,” Hawk head coach Gary Dresback said. “We expended a lot of energy the night before at Winterset and you could tell we had a ‘hangover’ from that effort. After spotting them a lead in the first quarter, we played an almost even second quarter (Ogden led, 27-20, at the break).”
Dresback said he asked the team at the intermission to stay sharp mentally and overcome tired legs.
“At the half I challenged the girls to get past their tiredness and show some heart and mentally focus and they responded well,” he said. “It wasn’t a fast comeback — it was slow, over the entire half.”
The Hawks still faced a 35-30 deficit entering the final frame before Jamison knotted the score at the charity stripe. A Hansen basket gave the guests a 40-38 lead, but the Bulldogs converted off an offensive rebound to put the score at 40-40.
W-G came up empty on the ensuing possession and committed a foul to put Ogden on the line with a 1-and-1 opportunity. The first shot was missed, but the Bulldogs collected another key offensive rebound and were fouled, setting up another one-and-the-bonus chance.
The first shot was missed, with Hawk guard Kayley Dresback taking the outlet pass and pushing the tempo. She found Hansen in the corner, with the senior fouled as she drove to the basket but before she could shoot, creating 1-and-1 chance with less than three seconds to play.
She coolly splashed both shots, with Ogden unable to convert a last desperation heave.
“I really liked the way we came out in the second half and showed some guts, some heart,” coach Dresback said. “I know we were tired. We had played really hard the night before and it showed, but we sucked it up and played a good second half by holding them to just 13 points.”
Ogden hit on just 1-of-16 attempted 3-pointers and 11-of-18 at the foul line while W-G singed the twine with a scorching 17-of-21 clip at the charity stripe, leading directly to the victory.
Hansen finished with 15 points and Jamison with 12, with Maggi Mallon and Alyssa Bice adding five points apiece while Dresback had three and Kendra Husmann two.
